How Did Michelle Zatlyn Build CloudFlare? | Startup Grind Global 2016

TL;DR

CloudFlare helps websites, apps, and APIs stay fast, secure, and available by providing cybersecurity, performance, load-balancing, and availability services. Michelle Zatlyn explains how an open-source anti-spam project inspired a business-school idea that she and her co-founder pursued by moving from Boston to California. Read on for the company’s mission, origin story, early market insight, and startup lessons.

Transcript

I am shilpa sharma i am founder and CEO of a company called quantum marketing performance company and also a director of fremont grande chapter here today i am here to announce our next guest speaker she is michelle zetlen she is co-founder and head of user experience and people who don't know what coke cloud fair does I'm sure people know what bou... Read More

Key Insights

• 🐎 CloudFlare prioritizes internet speed, security, and availability for web properties.
• 👨‍💼 Michelle Zetlen's journey from a business competition to scaling CloudFlare showcases entrepreneurial success.
• 🐕‍🦺 CloudFlare offers essential services like load balancing, cybersecurity, and performance optimization for web properties.
• 🧑‍💻 The Apple-FBI encryption debate highlights the importance of user privacy and encryption principles in tech companies.
• 🧑‍💻 Policy-making and historical contexts like the Crypto Wars influence tech companies' stances on encryption and privacy.
• ❓ CloudFlare's proactive stance on encryption and privacy reflects their commitment to providing secure online experiences.
• 🥶 Michelle's role as a non-technical co-founder highlights the value of diverse skill sets in startup success.

Questions & Answers

Q: What does CloudFlare do for websites, apps, and APIs?

CloudFlare helps web properties stay fast around the world, protects them from online cyberattacks, and helps keep them online. Its behind-the-scenes services include performance optimization, cybersecurity, availability, and load balancing.

Q: What is CloudFlare’s mission?

CloudFlare’s mission is to help make the internet a better place. Michelle Zatlyn describes this as making internet-connected applications faster, safer, and more reliable for consumers.

Q: How many web properties used CloudFlare at the time of the interview?

The introduction says CloudFlare was taking care of 2 million web properties. Michelle later says that more than 4 million web properties had signed up, with 7,000 additional sites signing up each day.

Q: Who used CloudFlare’s service?

Michelle says CloudFlare was designed as a service that anyone with a web property could use. Its users ranged from startups to companies and sites such as Reddit, Yelp, and The New York Times.

Q: How did Michelle Zatlyn and her co-founder get the idea for CloudFlare?

The idea grew from Project Honey Pot, an open-source community project that tracked web spammers and had attracted 80,000 websites. Michelle repeatedly asked what participating websites received, leading to the idea of a service that would actively protect them from spammers and other online attackers.

Q: What market gap did CloudFlare’s founders identify?

They saw that large enterprises could spend heavily on security solutions, while the rest of the internet had no good options beyond limited fixes. The founders viewed that underserved portion of the internet as a massive market.

Q: How did CloudFlare evolve from a school project into a startup?

CloudFlare began as an idea developed while the founders were in business school. By the end of the semester, Michelle gave up a planned LinkedIn job, and the founders packed a U-Haul and moved from Boston to California to pursue the company.

Q: What role did Michelle Zatlyn have at CloudFlare?

Michelle is introduced as CloudFlare’s co-founder and head of user experience. The existing account also describes her as a non-technical co-founder who contributed through customer interaction, product validation, and team coordination.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Michelle Zetlen, co-founder of CloudFlare, ensures online security, speed, and availability for 2 million web properties.

• CloudFlare offers services like load balancing, cybersecurity, and performance optimization for web properties.

• Michelle's journey from a business plan competition to scaling CloudFlare globally showcases entrepreneurial success in tech.